West Ham United have informed Manuel Lanzini that he is free to leave the London Stadium in the next 24 hours.

What's the talk?

That's according to a report by Football Insider, who claim that David Moyes has now decided the 29-year-old is no longer a key part of his first team squad, with the Hammers said to be open to offers for the Argentina international prior to the closure of the summer transfer window tomorrow evening.

And, while the reason for this decision is stated as the Irons recently confirming the club-record €60m (£51.3m) signing of Lucas Paqueta, there is an argument to be made that Moyes could be making room in his squad for the further addition of Club Brugge KV attacking midfielder, Hans Vanaken - with whom West Ham have been linked with a €20m (£17m) move in recent weeks.

Dream Lanzini replacement

While it is undeniable that Lanzini has been a fantastic servant to West Ham over the years - scoring 29 goals and registering 27 assists over his 208 appearances for the club - considering just how talented a forward-thinking midfielder Vanaken undoubtedly is, the 30-year-old would appear to be a dream replacement for the outbound Argentine.

Indeed, over his 39 Jupiler Pro League appearances last season, the £14.4m-rated Belgium international was in astonishing form for Brugge, scoring 11 goals, registering nine assists and creating 10 big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.8 shots, making 1.6 key passes and completing 0.6 dribbles per game.

These returns saw the £48k-per-week midfielder who Onur Kaya dubbed "extraordinary" average a simply sensational SofaScore match rating of 7.31, ranking him as the ninth-best performer in the top flight of Belgian football as a whole in 2021/22.

For comparison, over Lanzini's 30 Premier League appearances last time out, the £10.8m-rated midfielder scored five goals, provided three assists and created three big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 0.5 shots, making 0.8 key passes and completing 0.8 dribbles per fixture.

These returns saw the £70k-per-week Argentine average a SofaScore match rating of 6.88, ranking him as West Ham's 12th-best performer in the league last season.

As such, it is clear to see that, should Moyes be hoping to add more goals, assists and general creativity to his attacking midfield options this summer, Vanaken would undoubtedly be a signing who ticks all three boxes - while Lanzini, unfortunately, appears to be one of the most expendable players in the 59-year-old's first team squad.